1. Ul'dah.-I guess my main questions now are what city(ies) does(do) most people work out of/around?
-Is there a flow to where I should go to level? Like in XI there was the area out side the city, to the Dunes, etc. (Also dungeons as i understand that is where some of the gear is.)
-Is there a Gobbie Bag? I noticed an equipment slot for packs.
-At what level thresholds are the big quests that should be side tracted to do? Like Materia, factions, storyline, etc.
(i.e. XI's second job system at 18. I've read the loadstones info on 14's jobs so i know those are at 30.)
2. Not really. You can do leves at which ever camp you want, or make a small party and kill mobs that are 5-10 rank above you for exp. Obviously, some places will be better than others, but it's not terrible anywhere.
3. Pack is for fishing gear. The item limit is capped at 200, but come 2.0, there's word of it being reduced.
4. Main story quests: are like, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 36, 38 if i recall correctly.
Class quests are 20, 30, 36. Jobs are 30, 35, 40, 45, 50.
Materia quests start at 20 for crafters and gatherers.
Balmung is probably one of the largest english speaking servers. Shout in town, or ask on their forum.